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New
York, NY - The leading tiger expert featured in the BBC's hit
documentary The Lost Land of the Tiger, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, commented today on an announcement featured in Kuensel, Bhutan's
national newspaper, that the World Bank plans to invest $500,000 in
programs designed to save the nearly extinct wild cats in the
Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Rabinowitz was part of
the BBC expedition that recently caught on camera the first footage
of signs that tigers are breeding in the highest altitudes of the
Himalayas.
Dr. Rabinowitz,
President and CEO of the premier global wild cat conservation
organization Panthera, said, "We were thrilled when we
discovered wild tigers possibly breeding at such high elevations in
an important part of the tiger corridor, and that because of BBC,
so many people were able to learn about tigers and Bhutan. Bhutan
is an incredible country with a tremendous conservation ethic that
should be acknowledged and applauded. They are the only country in
Asia that has more than 70% of its natural forest cover, as well as
a government backed 'trust fund' to support conservation of their
wildlife and natural resources. With fewer than 3,500 of these
magnificent creatures still living in the wild, down from 100,000
over a century ago, Bhutan truly is a beacon of hope for wild
tigers, and other species, like snow leopards and elephants, and we
must carefully guard the areas where we find remaining populations.
The news of the World Bank's financial commitment is a step toward
helping conserve tigers and ensuring the next generation gets to
witness these amazing animals."
Six subspecies of
tigers continue to persist, but three have gone extinct in the last
80 years. The primary threats facing the iconic cats are poaching
of the animals and their prey, and the destruction of their habitat
due to development and clear cutting for agriculture purposes. More
information about the state of the tiger can be found here.
Dr.
Rabinowitz pointed to Panthera's unique Tigers Forever Program that
is focused on increasing tiger numbers at key sites by at least 50
percent over a 10 year period, as the solution to halt plummeting
tiger populations. The program focuses solely on mitigating and
eliminating the most urgent threats to tigers, including the direct
killing of tigers, depletion of tiger prey, and habitat loss and
fragmentation. Tigers Forever is being implemented at key sites
across India, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Russia. Panthera is currently expanding the number of sites in
which their teams work and building additional partnerships to
ensure conservation success.
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About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is the world's
leading organization devoted exclusively to the conservation of
wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the
world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements
global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperiled cats
- tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most
comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership
with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local
communicates, and governments. Visit http://www.panthera.org/
About
Tigers Forever
Launched
in 2006 after decades of continuing tiger declines, Tigers Forever
is changing the face of tiger conservation. Tigers Forever makes a
unique commitment to increase tiger numbers by at least 50% over a
10-year period by relentlessly attacking the most critical threats
to tigers- poaching of tigers and their prey. Utilizing rigorous
science to maintain constant vigilance on conservation efforts and
on the tiger itself, this transformative program is the only one of
its kind to guarantee success- the recovery of the wild tiger.
Visit http://www.tigersforever.org.
To learn more about Panthera's wild cat conservation programs,
please visit www.panthera.org. |
